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About two hours ago, I said goodbye to my friends on the set of Eureka, and rode back to my home away from home, here in Vancouver.
About an hour ago, I started doing my laundry and packing my suitcase. I think the last time I did coin-op laundry, I was 20. It's strangely familiar, and the unique smell that happens when a dozen detergents and softeners all combine in the warm, humid air of a laundry room hasn't changed at all in 18 years. Breathing it in provokes of sense memories from so long ago, they almost feel like they belong to someone who exists only in my head.
It's a beautiful day outside: a very light breeze is sort of lazily pushing some sparse clouds through a deep blue sky, over the tops of the buildings outside my window, and through the open window I can hear the traffic droning through the streets below. It's a peaceful backdrop, and I'm glad that I finally have some time to reflect back on my time here, and write some of this stuff down.
I can't get into specifics about work until these episodes air, but there are a few things I don't want to forget. This may be overly-general and a little weird, so please bear with me:
In every scene I do with Colin, we find something entertaining during rehearsal that wasn't there in the script (which is always great to begin with.) The producers and directors have been supportive of our creative discovery, and it's lead to this great relationship between Doctor Parrish and Sheriff Carter. Colin and I had a scene with Joe Morton the other day where Joe and I decided that Parrish and Henry would get all excited and geek out about some scientist stuff, totally ignoring Carter while we did. The foundation Colin and I had built for our character relationship let this thing I had with Joe stand right on top of it.
Niall Matter and I have decided that Zane and Parrish are friends from working together, and their mutual irritation with authority in general and Fargo specifically has formed the foundation for that friendship. So far, we haven't had much to do together, but when we're in the same scene, we make sure to look share character-based "can you believe this frakkin guy?" looks that may not ever read on the screen, but sure are a lot of fun to create.
Last Wednesday, I twisted the fuck out of my ankle on the set, and ultimately had to go to the doctor to get it looked at. I can't say how or why (it's spoilery) but the timing couldn't have been worse: we were on location, I was in almost all of 9 pages that day, and it happened during first rehearsal, before we'd even shot a single second of film. It was a long and painful day, but I ended up with a brace, a cane, and a Naproxen prescription, so I'm doing much better now. I don't need the cane, and I don't even limp that much, which is nice. An X-ray said it wasn't broken, and I said, "Holy shit, a talking X-ray!"
I really, really, really miss my family, but I've had a great time being here. As I look back on these two episodes, I see a lot of work I'm proud of, a lot of people I'm glad to know, some great times out with good friends ... but mostly, I am overwhelmed with gratitude. I'm so grateful for this life, and what I'm able to do with it, that even on the longest day on set when I'm in a scene that stopped being interesting and fresh hours ago, I can remember that I get paid to imagine. I make my living making things up to entertain people, to give them a place to escape to every once and a while, and I just love it. I've said it a lot on Twitter lately, but it bears repeating: I am the luckiest guy in the world. Sometimes, I feel like I'm living someone else's life, and I don't ever want to wake up.


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I've been asked to create a window display for Canada's finest comic book store THE BEGUILING, to promote my upcoming graphic novel, Ghost Stories. I thought I'd upload pics of the project from it's inception to the final window. So, to start, here is my rough sketch for the window.
It will be a winter scene, with my main character Lou Lebeuf standing in a snowbank watching childhood versions of himself and his brother playing pond hockey, with a nice forest behind. The kids will look like cut-out "table hockey players". I want it to have a real 3-D feel like the set from a stage play. There are also a number of irregular sized smaller windows surrounding the main window, which I will fill with character shots and the three cover images from my Essex County books.

subset: commoncrawl


text: In terms of online entertainment, the World Cup seemed to have it all. There was a cannibalistic Luis Suarez. Tim Howard saving … well … everything. Sad Brazilians. And Cristiano Ronaldo's hair. Oh, yeah … and the actual matches, which saw the U.S. team make an inspiring run, the powerhouse Brazilians unravel in shocking fashion and the Germans ultimately capture first prize on Sunday. The month-long spectacle also captured another prize: It's now the biggest social event in Web history. On Facebook, Sunday's final between Germany and Argentina alone spurred 280 million interactions by 88 million people, according to the company. That easily surpassed the former champ, last year's Super Bowl, with its 245 million interactions. Things were similarly fast and furious on Twitter, where the match was inspiring more than 618,000 tweets per minute, a new record for the site. There were a total of 32.1 million tweets about the match. Take those numbers and tack them onto the huge online engagement the tournament had already inspired and it's a no-brainer that Brazil 2014 enjoyed online fandom like no event before it. From June 12 to July 13, 350 million people generated a massive 3 billion World Cup posts, comments and likes, according to Facebok. In just its first week, from June 12-18, the tournament inspired 459 million Facebook interactions – more than this year's Super Bowl, the Academy Awards in March and the Sochi Winter Olympics combined. FIFA, international soccer's ruling body, says that more than 1 billion people engaged with World Cup content through its website, social media accounts and mobile app. The official FIFA app became the biggest sports-event app ever, with 28 million downloads, 451 million Facebook users were reached by FIFA's page and its Instagram account rocketed from 42,000 followers to nearly 1 million in 31 days. "This has been the first truly mobile and social World Cup," FIFA President Sepp Blatter said. "The 1 billion attendance in the global stadium created the sense of togetherness the World Cup brings and the shared excitement that digital platforms offer." Certainly, the global appeal of the World Cup played a huge part in the tournament's popularity. But the big numbers were clearly being bolstered by growing interest in the United States, one of the few nations where soccer isn't, hands-down, the most popular sport. During Sunday's final, 10.5 million of the people engaged on Facebook were from the United States. Compare that to the 7 million people in Argentina and 5 million in Germany, the match's actual participants, and you can see that U.S. interest in the tourney didn't disappear when the American side bowed out. In the 28 days before the U.S. team lost to Belgium in the knockout round, 36.7 million U.S. fans engaged with the World Cup's online properties, a spokesman for the organization said. That's 11.2% of the country's population and accounted for 23% of the total activity during that time. In all, 42 million U.S. fans visited FIFA Web and mobile tools during the entire tournament. As the U.S. men's team played its way out of a tough opening-round group that included Germany, Portugal and Ghana, U.S. Web users spent a total of 847 years and 143 days engaged with FIFA content. That's more than soccer-crazy rivals Brazil, Germany, England and France combined. "The popularity of the World Cup in the USA shows what a nation of sports lovers and enthusiasts they are," Blatter said. "The carnival atmosphere experienced at the World Cup viewing parties, where fans filled whole city blocks across the U.S., shows the passion that Jürgen Klinsmann's side has instilled in U.S. sports fans."


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
Court staff can be contacted by telephone at 231-689-7255 during normal business hours.
Show All Answers
Address:101 E Main StreetFremont, MI 49412
If you need to speak with a police officer after these hours, call Central Dispatch at 231-689-5288 and they will arrange for one of our officers to contact you. If your situation is an emergency, dial 911.
If you wish to leave a general message for the police department after hours, call our office number 231-924-2100.
After 10 days the fine doubles. After an additional 10 days, a uniform traffic citation is mailed to the registered owner and the fine increases substantially. If the owner fails to respond to the show cause order, an arrest warrant is issued.
The Fremont Police Department offers Livescan fingerprinting to those in need of criminal history background checks that may be required as a condition for employment, certification, licensing, foreign adoptions, etc.
Appointments are required. Hours for fingerprints are from 9:30 - 3:45 pm on Monday, and 8:00 - 4:45 pm Tuesday through Friday. Hours are subject to change due to the operational needs of the police department. Being fingerprinted takes approximately 10-15 minutes in an applicant setting. Call Becky at 231.924.2100 to schedule your appointment.
Cost for a Livescan is $58.25 as established by the State of Michigan and the FBI. Also, printing of fingerprints on fingerprint cards is available with the cost of $15 for one card. Additional cards are $5 each. You must have your Michigan Driver's License or a Michigan State ID card with your current address on it. Also, bring the Request for Fingerprint form provided to you by the organization requesting your prints.
The City owns and maintains several interests outside the City limits and officers will routinely conduct property checks on these interests, so it is not unusual to see a City officer on patrol outside the City. A Fremont Police Officer can write a ticket if they are with a County Deputy or State Trooper if working together.


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10th Anniversary Johnny Ramone Tribute Concert Scheduled for August
It seems impossible that it's already been this long, but Sept. 15 will mark the 10th anniversary of Johnny Ramone's death -- an occasion that will be marked by some of Ramone's friends, loved ones, and fans on Aug. 24 in Los Angeles.
The Ramones guitarist will be honored by an eclectic group of performers at the 10th anniversary Johnny Ramone Tribute Concert, scheduled to be held at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery with a lineup that includes Rob Zombie, Sex Pistols alum Steve Jones, ex-Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan, and former 'SNL' star Fred Armisen, who will reportedly resurrect his 'Ian Rubbish' punk musician alter ego for the gig.
Some of the evening's festivities will include a display of Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett's collection of horror movie memorabilia, a screening of Zombie's 'Devil's Rejects' film, and a simulcast of what promises to be a "blistering set of Ramones songs from [an] all-star band." It all adds up to a suitably irreverent tribute to the life and legacy of a man who co-founded one of rock's most lovably anti-authoritarian bands of misfits. "The Ramones were the great American rock band of our time," Zombie told Rolling Stone. "Endlessly copied but never equaled."
Tickets for the event are available through Ticketfly, with prices ranging between $20 and $75 and all proceeds benefiting the Johnny Ramone Foundation & Dr. David Agus at the Center for Applied Medicine at USC. For further information, visit Ramone's official site.


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Are there e-mentoring programs to support students with disabilities interested in careers in design fields?
The Institute for Human Centered Design has an e-mentoring program for students or entry-level professionals with disabilities interested in design fields such as architecture, computer aided design, industrial design, graphic and information design, interior design, and landscape architecture and design. Participants are matched with a mentor who is a design professional. The majority of communication between mentors and proteges is done online. Students interested in participating should contact Ruth Lusher.
The Institute for Human Centered Design is an international non-governmental educational organization committed to advancing the role of design in expanding opportunity and enhancing experience for people of all ages and abilities through excellence in design. The e-mentoring program is part of their initiative Access to Design Professions.
Students with disabilities interested in design may also want to consider joining the AccessSTEM Team. AccessSTEM Team members are a part of an e-mentoring community of students and professionals in science, technology, engineering, and mathematic (STEM) fields. STEM includes design-related fields such as architecture, web design, and information systems. AccessSTEM is hosted by the DO-IT Center at the University of Washington.
AccessDesign has been developed in partnership with Access to Design Professions, Institute for Human Centered Design, (IHCD) Boston, MA and funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).


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Non Opus Dei are a band from Poland that has been featured before in this zine and plays a very modern style of occult black metal on this recoridng and this is a review of their 2015 album "Diabel' which was released by Witching Hour Productions.
A very dark and melodic sound starts off the album along with some grim black metal screams that also takes the music into more of a heavier musical direction and after awhile the music starts to get more raw along with a decent amount of blast beats and all of the instruments that are present on this recording also sound very powerful.
A lot of the riffs go for more of a modern style of occult black metal and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts while some songs also add in a small amount of sound effects and some of the riffing also brings in progressive and technical elements at times along with a brief use of spoken word parts and the solos and leads the band uses also display a great amount of talent and skill.
With this recording Non Opus Dei remain true to an occult style of black metal while also getting a lot more modern and adding in progressive and technical riffs that display how much talent and skill that the band members have as musicians, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics are written in a mixture of Polish and English and cover Occultism, Left Hand Path and Ritualistic themes.
In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Non Opus Dei and if you are a fan of occult black metal, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Milk Of Toads" "The Other Side Of the Mushroom" and "Trickster - Shapeshifter". 8 out of 10.
Bandcamp |
Myspace |
ReverbNation |
Spotify |


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Poker Variations
There are many versions of poker. Some players stick to just one version; others like to play many different variants. This page provides a classified index of poker variations whose rules are available on pagat.com. The columns indicate the type of variant - some belong to several categories. The table includes many invented poker variants, which may be known only to a few players, and have in most cases been contributed by the people or groups who invented them: these are listed in italics.
Below the table of variations, there are sections on:
- classification of variations - explaining the game types referred to in the table;
- other collections of poker variants - in case the game you want is not listed here.
Classification of Variations
Poker variants are traditionally classified as draw games, stud games and shared card (community card) games, mainly according to the way the cards are dealt . However, there are variants that fall into more than one of these categories or none of them, and there are other useful but overlapping categories. The table on this page uses the following categories and shows which ones each variant belongs to.
- draw - draw poker games in which players have the chance to improve their hand by discarding some cards and obtaining replacements from the dealer.
- stud - stud or open poker games in which some of the players' cards are dealt face up, usually with several betting rounds during the deal
- shared - shared card or community card games in which some cards are dealt face up to the table or board, and are available to all players to use as part of their hand
- low - low poker or lowball games in which the lowest poker hand wins, rather than the highest poker hand
- high/low - poker games where the whole or part of the pot can be won by having the highest hand or the lowest hand in the showdown
- wild - poker games where one or more cards are designated wild and can be used to represent other cards, thereby improving the owner's hand
- split - poker games in which the pot is divided between two or more winners according to different criteria such as highest hand, lowest hand, highest spade, and so on.
- buy - poker games in which players can pay an extra amount to the pot for a privilege such as an extra card or a card exchange.
- pass - poker games in which players pass some of their cards to other players or trade cards with others.
- match - games in which a player who stays in but does not win the showdown pays a penalty, which goes into the pot for the following deal: often the penalty is to match the pot, paying an amount equal to the total current pot size.
- mixed - games that consist of several different poker games played in succession, either in a fixed sequence or chosen by the players.
- other - games that are not really poker variants, but are sometimes allowed as options in a dealer's choice poker game.
The category links lead to pages dedicated to each type, each page having an index of the variants that belong to that category.
Many home poker players like to be creative and invent their own variants. Some of these new games catch on and become widely known, while most probably continue to be played only by their originators and maybe a few other groups. Since poker variants are continually being created and going in and out of fashion, it is difficult to distinguish between "traditional" poker variants and "invented" variants, some of which may eventually turn out to be as interesting as the traditional ones, if not more so. In the table, invented poker variants, many of which were contributed by their inventors, are listed in italics.
Note: games loosely based on poker in which players do not play against each other but against the house or against a machine, such as Three Card Poker, Caribbean Poker and Video Poker are not listed on this page but will be found in the pagat.com Banking Games section.
Other Collections of Poker Variants
No poker variant collection can be complete - new ones are being developed all the time, and many people have local house rules or may play the same variants but give them different names. Here is a selection of web sites with poker variant rules. If the poker game you are looking for is not listed on pagat.com, you may find it in one of these other collections.
Craig 'Ichabod' O'Brien's large database of Poker Variants is also available in a Github repository.
Mike's Poker Pages contain a collection of rules for well over 100 poker variants.
Justin du Coeur's Querki has a Poker Variants Space with descriptions of a selection of recommended poker variants.
Archive copy of Peter Sarrett's poker variants collection, whose contents originally formed the basis of the collection here at pagat.com.
David Lenton's Play Lowball Poker site (archive copy) has rules and information for several Lowball games.


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Regenerative Grid Simulator for V2G etc.
n style="font-size: 18pt;">Regenerative Grid Simulator for V2G etc.
Grid Simulator (4 Quadrant AC source) for Grid-Tied Inverter Testing, Vehicle to Grid (V2G) Testing, AC Power Product Testing, & More!
The 9410 is a four-quadrant (bi-directional) AC/DC source with selectable phase outputs, a built-in waveform-digitizing measurement system and robust line disturbance creation tools.
When used in the regenerative (sink) mode, it sends returned power back to the facility mains rather than being dissipated as heat. The most frequent application of the 9410 is use as a grid simulator for testing PV inverters and other grid-tied products for compliance to industry standards.
For specific models please see datasheet.


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I may have posted this already.
In 6th grade, you labeled your cell diagram, not quite understanding what you were doing, but enjoying picking the colors from your box of crayons, coloring the pill-shaped organelle a Crayola cadet blue.
In 8th grade, you learned that the mitochondrion was where oxidation and the Krebs cycle took place (even though oxidation and Krebs were just sounds to memorize to please the teacher). You learned that this was the cell's power plant. You imagined a tiny engine burning gasoline.
In high school you memorized the Krebs cycle, took the Biology AP Exam, and managed to slip into a decent college. You slogged through biochemistry, and eventually became a pharmacist.
Mitochondria reside in our cells--they are sort of us, but not really--they carry their own DNA, and they descend from other mitochondria carried by your mother. And her mother. And her mother's mother.
Coloring them was about as exciting as mitochondria ever got.
Three decades ago I sat in the auditorium of the American Museum of Natural History. The teacher had primed our class, so when the serious man on stage asked what energy was, I knew the right words to say.
I raised my hand.
I started to open my mouth--I knew the words, my teacher was already smiling.
I did not say them. I stared at my feet.
"The ability to do work" caught in my craw.
The words explained nothing to me, and still do not.
My teacher's disappointment was once enough motivation for me to answer a stranger's question, even if I did not understand my own words.
At least until 6th grade.
Oxygen combines with fuel to release energy--light and heat. The oxygen does not contribute to the energy released--it "simply" accepts electrons, allowing bonds to break and reform.
If this happens fast, you get fire. Oxygen grabs electrons and protons, forming water. Hold your hand over a barbecue--the moisture on your palm is not just sweat. Hold a glass beaker over an open flame--water condenses on the cool glass. Try it.
Oxidation can happen slowly, too. The rusting rims of your child's bicycle left out over winter warms the frigid air as metallic iron morphs into ferric oxide. Rust releases heat. Molecules vibrate more quickly as electrons shift.
I know the words, but still do not trust them.
In 1978 I shoveled iron turnings on the docks, my feet warming up despite thick work boots. Until then I did not believe that rusting iron releases heat. Even more important, I had no reason to believe it--I no longer trusted teachers.
My favorite students are those who do not trust my words now--"show me!"
And I do.
You twist together, heat and motion.
Mitochondria hum.
In the morning, the sun rises, as it has, as it will.
The apple I eat courses through my veins as sugar, sugar that feeds the mitochondria.
Heat, water, and carbon dioxide are released. I step outside into the New Year chill, and see my breath. The water vapor dissipates, to return as rain. The carbon dioxide eventually feeds the spring garden, a few molecules going back to the apple tree, where the sun's energy restores a bit of order.
Leslie and I make up our shared bed, laughing at the entropic knot of sheets and blankets.
Our body heat comes from our mitochondria, trillions of symbionts stoking our fires.
If the soul resides anywhere, it resides here in the mitochondria.
After our last agonal gasp, our corpse quickly cools. The change is startling, even to experienced hands.
I've pronounced a lot of dead people, feeling for a pulse, watching for chest movement. Either can fool you. The abrupt onset of cold, however, tells the story. The mitochondria have stopped working.
You are dead.
The best parts of science get buried in the details.
My students yawn at the details.
I try to use a 3D model. Nitrogen atoms are, alas, painted blue.
"The red balls are oxygen, the blue balls...."
My frontal lobe edits too slowly today. I have their attention now--"Blue balls, he said blue balls!"--and the room now vibrates with a different kind of heat.
I breathe. I eat.
I use the energy released from the food I eat today to start preparing for the spring garden.
A garden is a lovely lie--a pretense of order in the midst of organic chaos.
I teach about the Krebs cycle in a classroom without windows.
I want to stop class, run outside, show my lambs the inexplicable dance outside, where a tiny portion of sunlight happens to hit our world, and carbon dioxide and water happen to get reorganized into food, that we happen to eat, to be.
Grace. Dharma. Science.


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What they say about this article
Considering we got 25 inches of snow last week...it's definitely still soup season. And it may be soup season until June considering how long it'll take all this snow to melt!
This soup sounds amazing...and I have all the ingredients. And I may just throw in some leftover chicken I have in the fridge...why not?I need to find my slow cooker! Used it for a show and haven't seen it since. I have posted some yummy recipes in the past week or so that I think would probably work in a slow cooker. Check out the soup I put up today, I think you'll love it.
cheersWow I am totally putting this on my menu for next week!
I made your chicken enchilada chili this week and we were so sad when it was gone. We have company coming tomorrow and I am making a double batch. I am hoping there's enough for my lunch the next day!God, you're adorable. Loved the clip. :)
BTW your vegan chili is a staple here -- one of the few meals everyone in the house will eat, and one of the things I almost always make when we go camping (in the camper, obviously, so I can bring the crock), too.This sounds delicious, can't wait to try it. I make a fast 'fake' bean soup by just simmering a can of cannellini beans in chicken broth and then adding a few tablespoons of pesto - it's almost as good as an all day soup. Pesto is a miracle seasoning in my opinion!
ReplyDeleteI just watched the GMA clip - you are adorable! I also have 3 small children and am super excited to try all of those chili's and the enchilada soup sounds GREAT!!
Thanks for all of the great ideas.omg! i bet george stephanopoulos is absolutely adorable in person! i'd want to just eat him up!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness. The food looks good, but you look so cute on the GMA clip. Now you're my put-together mommy idol in addition to being my food blog idol. Love the chili recipes, too. And your interview with TCB's Kim was great. Thanks for posting both.
ReplyDelete- Anonymous1/16/2011
This soup sounds terrific! Are you supposed to drain both cans of beans first or add them liquid and all?
ReplyDelete - Anonymous1/16/2011
I'm so glad you shared the GMA clip with us because I missed it. And I am trying to listen to all your instructions on the chilie, but kept thinking... "you are so cute"!
Congratulations on that apperance and your two books!!
:) Thank you for posting because I missed it too! Aren't you such a tiny little adorable lady!! The show was great and you are too cute!
ReplyDeleteOh my hell! You are adorable!!! Thanks for sharing the clip. The recipes looked pretty good, too! ;-)
ReplyDelete- Anonymous1/17/2011
I made this tonight. I used a jar of Trader Joe's soup starter mix (onions, carrots, and celery.) I used frozen chopped spinach and 3 cups of stock instead of 4. It is tasty. I think it would also be good with some pasta or some sausage. We added crushed red pepper to taste.
ReplyDelete We tried your Pesto Lasagna tonight from your new cookbook--loved it! Even my picky 2 year old wanted seconds! I gave you another shout out on my blog :) -Becky Beck
ReplyDelete- Anonymous1/17/2011
Um, could this possibly be easier or more delicious? I mean, I don't know for sure that it's delicious cause I haven't made it yet, but it screams delicious so I'm sure it is:). Thank you Stephanie!!!
ReplyDelete My family will be trying this soup very soon. RT GMA, yay you! It is nice to know that all of those demonstration speeches we were subjected to in school can actually be applied in real life. XD
ReplyDeleteJust found your site off of the Twitter Hop. I am your newest follower. I love to use my slow cooker but have trouble finding a variety for my family. You are my new favorite blog!!!!
http://thissahmsworld.blogspot.comI just finished eating a bowl of this for dinner tonight with some great bread. I only did a 1/2 recipe in the 4 qt. It was good - different than I thought. The only thing I'd change next time is to try and remove some of the oil from the pesto or make my own.
ReplyDelete- Anonymous1/18/2011
Could this possibly be easier? What a fab recipe Stephanie! This is definitely going on the queue! My hubs will love it - right up his culinary alley!
ReplyDelete Love your outfit on GMA and LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog! I found it and fell in love with it a few weeks ago. I blogged about it today (http://lillyforless.blogspot.com/) and have sent the link to your site to lots of friends and family! Some of my husband's single friends were even convinced to buy a crock-pot after trying some of your recipes :) You're awesome!
ReplyDelete- Anonymous1/19/2011
I just wrote my post for your book giveaway (Allison at Hyperion is so nice!) and every time I linked to your blog I saw this photo. It's making me drool, I tell ya! You are a genius!
And here is the link if any of y'all want a chance to win the book (hope it's okay to do this) http://bovinesituation.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/more-make-it-fast-cook-it-slow-book-review-and-giveaway/
I started a food blog (http://momsnoms.wordpress.com/) and I am just so incredibly inspired by you. Keep up the good work! Love Minestrone soup - & this sounds divine! & being GF, I appreciate the absence of noodles!
I think I'd reserve most of the pesto to add at the end - the Italian Restaurant here in McMinnville (Nick's - world famous!) will bring a little bowl of 'fresh' pesto to the table if you request it - so nice to just add a dollop then! (I might put some dried basil in while it was cooking)
A couple of years ago I saw a post from 'Fat of the Land' on making pesto with nettles - yumm!!! I have access to fresh nettles (& have a few in pots on the porch) a GREAT way to make pesto in the spring - & chock full of goodies!! Adding some dried nettles to this Minestrone would be great, too!- Anonymous4/08/2011
I came cross your recipe while searching for a Minestrone soup recipe. This was my first time cooking Minestrone soup and I must say it is delicious! I haven't had much luck since I started using my slow-cooker but this was my first successful attempt. Even my husband enjoyed it. It's so healthy,simple, and yummy. It beats buying the canned variety and it tastes even better. I just changed the potatoes to zucchinis and added chickpeas along with Cannellini beans. I agree with one of the commenter above, I had to skim off some of the oil from the pesto sauce. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
ReplyDelete - Anonymous1/31/2012
I made it last week. It's good, but I have to add some salt just before eating.
I never add extra salt to my foods or soups. This is one of the few times I've had to.
Or, maybe it just feels like its missing something. I wouldn't call it bland, but it felt like it was missing something that stood out. Are there any suggestions or comments, did anyone else feel this way?
I think this is the first vegetable soup I've made, so overall it was pretty good, just wondering if there's something I could add other than salt or pepper to enhance it a bit.


text:
General Charles Gordon on the Gordon Memorial" by Sir W. Hamo Thornycroft, R. A. (1850-1925). Bronze. Victoria Embankment, London. [Click on these images to enlarge them.]
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Related Material |
Photograph 2011 at right by Robert Freidus. Photograph at left 1999, formatting, and text by George P. Landow. You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Beattie, Susan. The New Sculpture. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983.
Last modified 17 July 2001


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We, the leaders of France, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom, abhor the attack that took place against Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, UK, on 4 March 2018. A British police officer who was also exposed in the attack remains seriously ill, and the lives of many innocent British citizens have been threatened. We express our sympathies to them all, and our admiration for the UK police and emergency services for their courageous response.
This use of a military-grade nerve agent, of a type developed by Russia, constitutes the first offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since the Second World War. It is an assault on UK sovereignty and any such use by a State party is a clear violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and a breach of international law. It threatens the security of us all.
The United Kingdom briefed thoroughly its allies that it was highly likely that Russia was responsible for the attack. We share the UK assessment that there is no plausible alternative explanation, and note that Russia´s failure to address the legitimate request by the UK government further underlines its responsibility. We call on Russia to address all questions related to the attack in Salisbury. Russia should in particular provide full and complete disclosure of the Novichok programme to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
Our concerns are also heightened against the background of a pattern of earlier irresponsible Russian behaviour. We call on Russia to live up to its responsibilities as a member of the UN Security Council to uphold international peace and security.


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Advanced Search
Community Colleges
Community colleges looking to grow eLearning programs have a range of choices, from the DIY approach to outsourcing.
TWO RURAL COMMUNITY COLLEGES are considering how to build out their eLearning environments. For one, the primary issue is a crumbling infrastructure that cannot even support current instructional demands, let alone allow for growth and innovation. For the other, it's a matter of delivering richer online offerings to gain a competitive edge. With enrollments hovering around 3,000, each has a main campus with several satellite locations. Each offers individual online courses as well as degree and certificate programs on campus, online, or in hybrid or web-enhanced forms.
OUTSOURCING enabled State Fair Community College to expand its online course offerings and degree programs, and to increase enrollment.
That's where the similarities end. The two schools in question—Cleveland State Community College in southeast Tennessee and State Fair Community College in west-central Missouri—looked at their resources, their options, and their goals and chose to take radically different routes toward the same end. The decisions they made—and how they made them—may serve as models for other community colleges seeking to expand online offerings in ways that meet their particular educational and business requirements.
Aging Infrastructure as a Force for Change
When he arrived at Cleveland State Community College as director for instructional technology in July 2006, Ron Paige found an infrastructure on the edge of collapse and a distance learning faculty tied to what he considered an obsolete teaching mode. The ITV videoconferencing equipment was so out of date that it was no longer supported, despite a hefty annual maintenance contract.
TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGEUpgrade/replace obsolete equipment with new eLearning system for synchronous and asynchronous online instructionTECH SOLUTIONSLMS: Desire2Learn (www.desire2learn.com)Collaboration environment: Elluminate Learning Suite (www.elluminate.com)Student support: Smarthinking for online academic tutoring (www.smarthinking.com);Elluminate for virtual office hours, student support servicesTech support: Atomic Learning technology tutorials (www.atomiclearning.com)
The dedicated phone lines carrying the video signal were maxed out, so lectures could be seen at only three off-site locations—the college's two satellite campuses and just one of 15 dual-enrollment high schools.
"My initial technical challenge was to integrate the existing ITV system into a much more studentengaging learning environment, using state-ofthe- art, relatively inexpensive, unlimited-access digital technology," Paige states. What's more, he had to make the transition "in a seamless manner that did not create additional load on faculty or disrupt the distance learning curricula or schedules already in place."
Beyond an aging physical infrastructure, Paige also faced what might be called an outdated pedagogical foundation. The faculty and administration wanted new equipment, but they also wanted to preserve the ITV experience, which Paige calls "educational voyeurism."
"There was an entrenched perception that contemporary technology, especially broadband internet access and modern computers, was not universally available to our students," Paige recalls. After conducting a survey that showed "contemporary technologies were available to and used by 99 percent of our students," Paige argued that "with the digitization of virtual education, we could go to the internet and find something that would cost much less yet give students throughout our service area full access and a better educational experience."
For a while, a compromise was struck, with both ITV remaining in place and a few early adopters using WebCT. "I knew it wasn't going to be what the students wanted, but we had to start where the instructors were—and let them find out for themselves that it wasn't what they wanted either."
In the summer of 2007, Paige's forward-thinking mission was helped when the state board of regents adopted Desire2Learn (D2L), requiring all member schools to submit an implementation plan that included a training program for all instructors who intended to use the new learning management system (LMS). Online@CSCC came into being as Cleveland State's branded D2L learning environment. Still, most faculty clung to the "talking head and whiteboard" ITV model. The mandated training was left on the shelf, thanks to what Paige characterizes as procrastination typical in academic institutions.
Then, on the eve of the 2009 summer session, a major equipment breakdown forced the issue: ITV was out of the picture. Ready or not, the LMS was the only option. "Fortunately, this happened during the shorter summer session, when we had a smaller group of people" on which to test a larger D2L rollout, Paige recalls. That launch, however, was beset by its own set of difficulties, prompting Paige to describe the time as both a "disaster" and "an opportunity" to solve some major problems before the fall semester.
The problems fell into two distinct categories: technical and training. The technical turned out to be a big glitch with a quick fix. "We knew we were going to need more bandwidth, so we doubled it all around and in some cases at our main campus, tripled it. We just assumed that our service provider had done what we asked because they started billing us accordingly," Paige explains. "When we found we were having significant delivery problems, we asked the ISP for a complete overview of what was happening and they discovered that they never had increased our bandwidth after all."
The larger problem was lack of training. There was no time to train the instructors for the summer session, and they were unprepared to use equipment and technology with steep learning curves. "We had instructors who were used to an existing system and thought the new system was the same thing except on the internet," says Paige. "You can't just walk into a Desire2Learn setting and teach the same way. You have to have content that the students can be engaged with. If you aren't prepared, you can't just wing it."
In response to the summer debacle, Paige developed his own "train-the-trainer" system to get faculty up to speed. Through a six-module, 48-hour course, a volunteer from each academic department is trained on D2L as well as a grab bag of other technology tools. Trainers get rewards such as release time and funding to attend ed tech conferences. Each trainer then becomes the department's go-to person. "They're able to handle all the smaller problems.
The more complex ones come to me," he says. From day one, Paige's task required both tech savvy and powers of persuasion. Getting people to buy into his vision was as much a part of the job as researching and implementing technological change. Calling the transformation an evolutionary process, he says, "There is a growing awareness that these technologies can be used to engage students, and a growing number of instructors are pushing the envelope as they experiment with the technology. We are heading away from educational voyeurism toward my original vision of individualized asynchronous and synchronous delivery."
The Outsourcing Option
For State Fair Community College President Marsha Drennon, expanding online instruction was a strategy for gaining a competitive edge. "Anticipating growth for online learning and understanding that the competition for students would be intense, I knew it was really important to have state-ofthe- art campus technologies that would allow us to expand our online learning environment."
SFCC vies for students with 19 other community colleges in Missouri. "In a rural area, population growth is limited," Drennon says. "Our approach was to find new markets and special learning niches that we could fill using online delivery." The problem, in her view, is that campus technology is not a "core competency for community colleges, especially in rural areas." So, rather than put resources toward growing that internal capacity, SFCC decided to outsource the entire IT operation to SunGard Higher Education.
With the help of Robert Paulson, who came on board as vice president of technology services for SunGard at SFCC the administration crafted a strategic plan to fully align IT with the college's overall objectives. As part of its suite of services, SunGard set up and staffed a new Department of Educational Technology Services. SFCC Online was part of the comprehensive tech overhaul spearheaded by SunGard.
TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE Expand online course offerings and degree programs to increase enrollment
TECH SOLUTIONS Outsourced IT services: SunGard Higher Education (www.sungardhe.com) LMS: Angel Learning (now owned by Blackboard; www.blackboard.com) Instructional design: Quality Matters (www.qualitymatters.org) Student support: Elluminate Learning Suite for orientation and academic advising (www.elluminate.com); integrated with Wacom tablets for tutoring and remediation (www.wacom.com) Tech support: SunGard 24/7 help desk
Paulson and Eric Fudge, the Sun- Gard embed who serves as SFCC's director of instructional technology, are an integral part of the college community, Drennon emphasizes. "They're members of my team. They see themselves as SFCC employees and part of our family, which has made this partnership work so well."
That partnership is part of an ongoing process that began in November 2003, and continues as online instructional design is refined and standardized and new courses are added. As of fall 2009, SFCC offers full Associate of Arts and Applied Science degree programs online.
Among the main advantages of outsourcing, Fudge says, "is that we can get answers faster because of the resources backing us. If we have questions, we can check with colleagues at other schools or within SunGard. Most likely, someone else has already worked through [a similar problem], so we don't have to reinvent the wheel." Another advantage comes into play when choosing applications and equipment. Although purchasing decisions are SFCC's alone, SunGard offers guidance and assistance in negotiations. "We have more clout with vendors so we can usually get better deals than State Fair would be able to do," notes Fudge.
On the recommendation of a SunGard instructional analyst, SFCC Online adopted the Quality Matters master course rubric in 2007. SunGard developed a template based on that rubric, to provide structure and ensure that each online course has all the components required to meet the Quality Matters standard. Instructors import the template and add their own course content, with guidance from Fudge if needed. Using the template means each instructor doesn't have to design his or her course from scratch. "It saves time and effort, and helps maintain the integrity of the curriculum by avoiding inconsistency from course to course," says Fudge, adding that it's particularly helpful as the school hires more adjuncts to fill rapidly increasing faculty slots.
As more students opted for online courses, it became clear that beyond e-mail and telephone contact, there was a lack of tools to help them with academic as well as technical issues. To remedy that, Fudge says, "We RFPed and selected Elluminate to provide a virtual meeting space for advising, orientation, tutoring, and remedial work." The oncampus tutoring department uses Elluminate's web conferencing capabilities, integrated with Wacom tablets, to deliver robust assistance to distance learners. Tech support was beefed up with a 24/7 live help desk, a SunGard service option. When SFCC adopted the Angel Learning LMS in January 2009, students were offered a four-module online self-study course on using it. According to Fudge, "Instructors really like it because students are coming in better prepared, and they don't have to spend the first week teaching how to use Angel. Some instructors are making it a course prerequisite."
With fall 2009 collegewide enrollment hours up 28 percent and a 40 percent increase in online enrollment over the 2008 fall semester, there's no doubt in Drennon's mind that outsourcing was the right decision for SFCC. "It is very hard to stay on top of what you need in terms of classroom technologies, training for the faculty, hardware, software, licensure, all of those kinds of things. Bringing in folks with outside expertise has had a very positive impact on how we move the institution forward with online learning."
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This is a story of old ships, childhood summers, inline-8 diesels and a four-letter word. This is the story of the 52-year-old M/S Amur, a vaguely abandoned 282-ft passenger riverboat. Without this rusty old Danube cruiser, I would not be here.
In the early '60s, when my father was studying to become one of Hungary's first geneticists, he was also making wild kayak trips on the Danube. The fates of hydrology and Cold War politics marked the southernmost point of his journeys in Gemenc, an ancient tidal forest on the western bank of the river a few miles north of the then-Yugoslav border. It was love at first sight. It's not hard to see why. Gemenc is a fairy tale forest of oaks, stags, oxbow lakes, black storks and backwaters, a proper wilderness where the Danube is flat and wide, and death's-head hawkmoths and hornets buzz outdoor lights. He bought a summer house with the forest for a backyard and I spent every summer of my childhood there. We fed fish and watermelon rinds to the wild boars which came right up to the house.
There were boats. Black cargo boats which carried coal and ore, white passenger boats which trained high-power beams on the shores at night and we waved at their passengers, rare and treasured hydrofoil boats which moved at impossible speeds. We had our own boat—the only way to reach Gemenc without a 4×4 or a horse—made of oak boards and powered by a 4 hp Johnson outboard engine, quite the thing in then-Communist Hungary.
The boats had names. I didn't know because I couldn't read. But that changed. The letters were big. My parents deciphered them. Never the Cyrillic, only the Latin. I wouldn't learn how to read Cyrillic until I was 24. But it was a different matter with the Latin letters. By the time I entered first grade, I was a fluent reader. I never stopped. It was the boats. And M/S Amur was my favorite.
She was outdated even back then. A chunky, blocky thing compared to her sleek successors like M/S Sofia, M/S Ukraina and M/S Volga, Amur had the hydrodynamic beauty of a cinder block and she produced big waves, tall, violent waves incongruous on the serene water. I loved her. Amur was my special treat. Slowly, she was phased out of regular service along with her sister ship M/S Dunaj and then our yearly month-long forest retreats came to an end too.
So it was quite a shock to see Amur again, like running into someone you'd last seen in grade school. Back when I was a kid in Speedos grinning at the mad waves of Amur, there was no internet and I knew nothing about her. I know a lot about her now. She was built in 1960 in Austria and is registered in Ukraine. She's 282 feet long, can take on 212 passengers and is serviced by a crew of 56. She is powered by two inline-8 Deutz RBV8M 545 diesels, good for 600 hp each. The engines are monstrous. I wonder how I would have reacted to my future self back in the late '80s if he'd told me that 20+ years later there would be an invention called the internet and layered on this invention would be another invention called YouTube and on this YouTube I would be able to watch and listen to the mighty Deutzes of Amur. You can, too.
Amur is now for sale by Wiking Yacht Club, a Hungarian shipping company, for $415,000. I know next to nothing about the riverboat business but it seems as wild a price as Amur's waves were in her heyday. She's parked off the side of Wiking's Budapest facilities, slightly out of sight of the powerboats Wiking services, and last fall, the water was so low that she listed heavily to port, her starboard side caught on the embankment. The water is now back up, slightly, and Amur has righted herself. On the early morning I visited her, she was enveloped in a wide ring of ice floes. The current was not strong enought to move them. It was very cold. People were commuting to work across the bridge above, but down below, there was nothing but gulls and Amur and the tingle of ice. No Hummers were in sight.
I have dreams of buying her. Of rebuilding her to a standard impossible to imagine around the time she was prowling the lower Danube. It's an impossible dream. I watched the sun come up behind her bridge, turned off my camera and climbed up some stairs, smiling, my fingers numb.


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A lot of people think that the only thing to eat in Disney World is burgers. In fact, I hear lots of folks lament that they couldn't exist solely on all that junk food, and that's one of the big reasons why they don't vacation in Disney World.
Well, lucky for us, there is a variety of food (both high- and low-brow) to eat in Disney World. But I have to admit, they can and do make some pretty mean burgers! While they're pretty much good everywhere, there are a few places that stick out in my mind.
Here's a quick look at my top three:
1. Le Cellier Grilled Angus Chuck Burger: You might have to sell your firstborn to actually get a reservation at Le Cellier, but once you're in you can get this yummy burger for just $12.49. Le Cellier is deservedly known as a steakhouse, and someone at your table should absolutely order the famous Filet with Mushroom Risotto; but if you like burgers, this is a grand opportunity.
What makes this one so good is the Black Diamond Cheddar melted on top. The cheese has a strength to it and the flavor will knock you out. Definitely worth a try.
Note, however, that this is only available at lunchtime at Le Cellier.
Grilled Angus Chuck Burger topped with house-made onion ketchup and your choice of cheddar or blue cheese $12.49
2. Liberty Tree Tavern Angus Chuck Cheeseburger: Another one that's only available at lunchtime, the Liberty Tree burger is one of those unexpected surprises. While I'd been a die-hard pasta fan there for awhile, I tried the burger one day and was so impressed I had to split it with the rest of the table.
Thinking it was a fluke, I ordered the burger several more times after that initial visit and have been wow-ed every time. You know how you've got that great hometown diner or restaurant that you keep going back to? This is what Liberty Tree Tavern lunch has become for me.
And, please, get the fries.
Angus Chuck Cheeseburger topped with bacon and cheddar or mushrooms and provolone, served with fresh fruit or tavern fries $11.99
3. Beaches and Cream Cheeseburger: And finally, the Beaches and Cream burger! While this one's pretty flat, pretty thin, and pretty standard, the Beaches and Cream burger wins a mention for being an authentic burger in an authentic diner.
You just don't get more nostalgic than this.
Compliment the masterpiece on a plastic plate with some big ol' greasy onion rings, or the lightly seasoned fries that are always perfectly crispy at Beaches and Cream. (You have the option to order fresh fruit as a substitute for the fries.) And don't forget to save room for the malted milkshake, banana split, or Kitchen Sink for dessert!
Cheeseburger – – A juicy beef patty served on a fresh baked bun. Single $8.99; Double $11.49
Now, Let's Eat!
Hopefully this little beef-based culinary tour has whet your appetite for some delicious burgers at Disney World.
While WDW may be the land of junk food, don't write it off as a stereotype too quickly! Judge for yourself.
If you know of a "best burger" that I've missed, let me know about it in the comments section below!


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Like, this fringe is balls. Hate it. Also why is she wearing the same dress over and over again? Black, mermaid, I mean there's saving up and there's just being lazy. Thrilled that Pene won Best Supporting Actress because she really was on fire in Vicky Cristina, but this doesn't absolve her from the assness of these geisha bangs.
When you are honoured at these events, the photos, the photos they stick around FOREVER. Will she want to remember the BAFTAs this way, for years and years, showing this hair to her grandchildren… is this the 2nd best she could do?
No. Unequivocally no.
To put it in perspective, Bai Ling wore her hair the exact same way at the Grammys. Enough said.
Photos from Wenn.com


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coincidentally, Smith was also free of that other besetting vice of
contemporary academic philosophy, overspecialization. A philosopher whose competence is limited to
a small set of topics can do good work, but not the best work. That is simply a consequence of the nature of
philosophical ideas, whose implications tend to ramify across the intellectual
landscape. But one needs a knowledge of
that landscape to see that. Smith had
that, and his interests and publications ranged widely. This breadth gave his work depth.
This is
clearest from his work in the philosophy of time, in which his deep knowledge
of and interest in metaphysics, physics, and philosophy of religion
converged. All three are in evidence in
the book he co-wrote with William Lane Craig, Theism,
Atheism, and Big Bang Cosmology – the book which, I think, is
what introduced me to Smith's work in the early 90s, at a time when I was
myself still an atheist. They are also
evident in another book of his from that period that I especially liked at the
time – the fun little volume Time,
Change, and Freedom: An Introduction to Metaphysics, which he
co-wrote with L. Nathan Oaklander. It is
written in the unjustly neglected dialogue form that once was common in
philosophy, and done very well.
In thinking
about this post I went back and re-read some of it. Since there is no greater tribute one can
offer to a philosopher than to engage with his work, let's take a look. Chapter 4 is devoted to the topic of
eternity, and is a model of how to introduce complex philosophical ideas in a
way that is brief and lucid without being oversimplified. Smith begins by noting that the concept of
eternity is traditionally defined in theological terms, as in Boethius' famous
characterization of it as God's "possession all at once of unlimited
life." This "possession all at once"
involves God's existing timelessly. It's not that God has always existed in the
past and will continue to do so in the future, but rather that he exists outside of time altogether. But what does this mean, exactly? Smith considers four ways of interpreting
divine eternity that have been defended in recent philosophy, and raises
problems for each of them. What follows
is a summary of what Smith has to say about these views, with some commentary.
1. Eternity as non-temporal duration: On this view, for God to exist
eternally is for him to exist simultaneously with every instant of time. George Washington's eating breakfast in 1776
and your reading this blog post in 2021 are not simultaneous events for either
you or Washington. But on the
"non-temporal duration" view, they are simultaneous for God, who "sees" every
moment of time all at once, like someone viewing every part of a town all at
once from a vantage point on top of a mountain.
As Smith
points out, this view won't work. If 1776
is simultaneous with God's awareness and 2021 is simultaneous with God's awareness,
then 1776 is simultaneous with 2021 after all.
Or, if they are not simultaneous,
then God's awareness of 1776 and his awareness of 2021 are also not simultaneous,
in which case God exists at different moments of time and is not eternal. The "non-temporal duration" interpretation is
a muddle.
This criticism
is correct, and I would add two more points.
First, "simultaneous" and "duration" are temporal notions, which should already make us suspicious of this
way of spelling out the notion of eternity.
(To be sure, it is very hard to avoid all temporal language when speaking of eternity, which means that
we need to rely heavily on the analogical
use of terms and explicit negation of
all of the temporal implications of univocal usage. More on that in a moment.)
Second, talk
of God "seeing" different points of time all at once, though very common in discussions
of eternity, is extremely misleading at best and bound to lead to absurdities like
the ones exhibited by the "non-temporal duration" view. God does not know the world via anything like
perception. He knows it by virtue of
being its cause. In particular, he does
not know what is happening in 1776 and 2021 by way of observing them. He know them
because he knows himself as the cause of a world in which a series of events
occurs, some of which are in 1776 and some of which are in 2021.
(Compare: A
novelist knows what happens in chapter 1 and chapter 5 of his book, not because
he has read both chapters, but
because he wrote both of them. Much bad thinking about God's relation to the
world in general and to time in particular results from thinking of God as if
he were just one more reader of the "novel" that is the world, rather than the
novel's author.)
2. Eternity as tenseless duration: Consider the tenseless theory (or B-theory)
of time, according to which all moments of time – 1776, 2021, and all the rest
– are equally real. There are earlier
and later events (for example, events in 2021 are later than those of 1776) but
no event is objectively past,
present, or future (as events are on the tensed
or A-theory of time). The "tenseless duration" view of eternity
holds that the tensed or A-theory of time is true, so that events in time are
objectively past, present, and future.
But it holds that God has duration with successive parts, ordered in
something like the way that events are ordered according to the B-theory. There are earlier and later stages of God's
existence, but none of them is
objectively past, present, or future (the way that events in time are) so that
God is outside of time.
One problem
with this, as Smith points out, is that it implicitly brings God into time
after all. For suppose stage S1
of God's life is the stage where he creates 1776 and stage S2 is the
stage where he creates 2021. Then it
seems that S1 will be simultaneous with 1776 and S2 will
be simultaneous with 2021. But if 1776
is past and 2021 is present, then it would follow that S1 is past
and S2 is present – in which case God has both past and present
stages and exists in time after all.
I would make
three additional points. First, the
defender of the "tenseless duration" view might avoid dragging God down into time,
but at the cost of absorbing (what at first seemed to be) time up into
eternity. For he could insist that since
God is not in time, S1 and
S2 must not really be objectively past and present. But in that case, neither are 1776 and 2021
(which are simultaneous with S1 and S2, respectively)
objectively past and present – in which case (given the A-theory, which the
"tenseless duration" view is committed to) they are not really in time after
Second, all
this talk of God having "stages" is in any event a non-starter, because it
violates divine simplicity. Third, talk
of "duration" has, here too, potentially problematic temporal
connotations. But that brings us to the
third view.
3. Eternity as a present instant: This view abandons talk of duration
and conceives of God as existing in a single instant. But this instant
remains permanently present, being outside of time and thus having no instants
preceding it or succeeding it.
As Smith
objects, this is simply a muddle. If God
remains present, then that implies
that he persists through successive
instants, in which case he is in time.
Or, if he really does exist only in a single instant, then he doesn't remain, but passes away. And in that case too, he is in time.
I would add
to this that it is simply a non-starter to think of eternity on the model of an
instant. In my view, this is an even worse model for eternity than endless duration
is. For one thing, it too is a concept
with temporal connotations. But for another,
it implies something less than
duration, whereas the reason duration is a problematic model for eternity is
that eternity is more than mere
duration, not less!
As David
Oderberg suggests in his paper "Instantaneous
Change Without Instants," an instant of time is best thought of as a
kind of limit case of the division of a time interval into shorter units. It is analogous to a point in space, and an
interval of time can no more be made up of a collection of instants than an
extended object can be made up of extensionless points. Much fallacious thinking about the nature of
space and of motion arises from reifying abstract mathematical descriptions of
space and motion, and much fallacious thinking about time arises in a similar
way. I have a lot to say about both
sorts of fallacies in Aristotle's
Revenge. In any event,
the notion of an instant will only yield something less than temporal duration,
and thus something far less than
eternity. But that brings us to the last
view considered by Smith.
4. Eternity as a tenseless instant: This view presupposes that the tenseless
or B-theory of time is correct. Hence,
it holds that 1776, 2021, and all other points of time are equally real and
none is objectively past, present, or future.
God, on this view, exists at a single instant, and that instant too is
not present (contrary to the "present instant" view). But it is also outside the series of instants
that make up time, and thus is not earlier than, simultaneous with, or later
than any of them. From this vantage
point outside of time, God is aware of all of the equally real instants that
make up time.
Smith seems
more sympathetic to this view than to the others, though he doesn't ultimately
accept it either. But even if it is the
least bad of the four, it is still not good, and not only because it endorses
the B-theory (which, for reasons I explain in Aristotle's Revenge, I reject).
For, again, an instant is the
wrong way to model eternity. Eternity is
not endless duration, but it is more
like endless duration than it is like an instant.
The main
problem Smith raises against the "tenseless instant" view is this. Suppose Washington was worshipping God one
morning in 1776, but was not doing so an hour later when his attention was
distracted by other matters. Then it
seems that God underwent a change (i.e. from being worshipped by Washington to
not being worshipped by him), and if he undergoes change, then he is in
time. A traditional response to this
kind of objection, which Smith considers, is that while this involves a change
to Washington, it does not really involve a change to God himself, but only a change in the relations Washington bears to him.
And this kind of change does not require God to exist in time.
response (through one of his dialogue's characters) is to suggest that either
sort of change involves God existing in time, but he gives no argument for this
and it is not plausible. Nor need one be
a theist to see this. If I am thinking
about a Platonic Form or the number 14 at 2:30 pm but no longer thinking about
them an hour later, it is hardly plausible to say that the Platonic Form or the
number 14 have undergone a change and therefore exist in time.
Smith (or
his dialogue's character) also neglects to consider the Thomistic position
that while the world bears a real relation to God, God does not bear a real
relation to the world. Of course, Smith
would no doubt reject that view, but the point is that it is a well-known thesis
that would have obvious application here, so that for Smith to give his
character the last word without considering it seems a lapse.
I would also
say that the analogical use of theological terms and apophatic or negative
theology are absolutely crucial to a proper understanding of divine eternity,
yet are not considered in Smith's discussion.
As I have acknowledged, in discussing eternity it is difficult to avoid
all terms that ordinarily have temporal connotations. For example, Boethius' phrase "all at once"
would normally be used in contexts where we are talking about what happens at
some moment of time, and his talk of eternity as a "standing now" also deploys
a term with temporal connotations.
However, the situation here is similar to the one we face when
attributing things like power, goodness, knowledge, and the like to God. We are saying both that there is in God
something analogous to what we call
the now (or power, or goodness, or knowledge) in our case, but that it is not
exactly the same thing, and that it lacks all aspects concomitant with our
being changeable, corporeal, composite, and so on.
But such deficiencies do not reflect any bad faith on Smith's part, nor any failure to try to engage with his opponents seriously, respectfully, and constructively. His admirable approach to conducting the debate between theism and atheism has one fewer representative, and he will be missed. My earnest prayer for this man from whose work I have profited is that, through divine grace, he now comes to know divine eternity more perfectly than any of us ever could in this life.


text:
The Gamma Green Dot Balls are perfect for getting kids and adult beginners involved in the game of tennis. They travel at a 25% slower speed compared to a standard tennis ball, giving it a lower bounce and making the game more accessible to players just starting out. This ball is USTA Approved for 10 and Under Tennis tournament play and is ideal for juniors ages 11+ on a 78′ court. Note: Hopper not included.
USTA/ITF Stage 1 specification
25% slower speed of play compared to a standard tennis ball
Numbered 1-3 for tournament play
60 ball pack


text:
Countless times I have gotten together with paper industry people and usually when guys (mostly) are involved, the discussions quickly move to sports-jock talk. While I don't have the clichéd golf clubs in my trunk, I can hold down my end of the conversation if it involves major league baseball. However, more often than not, it devolves into a discussion of collegiate football or basketball…to me it's like listening to Charlie Brown's teacher.
So anyway, some month's back, Sports Illustrated contacted me about the piles of mail (p-a-p-e-r) that NCAA teams send to potential recruits who are still in high school. The resulting article was in the August 3rd issue. Most of the article centers on a top high school player from Santa Barbara, California. Keep an eye out for Roberto Nelson at Oregon State over the next few years.


text:
The Nativity Scene of wax figures displayed each year, created by Paul Young, Sr., President of Paul R. Young Funeral Homes, captures a defining moment in the history of mankind.
The groundwork for this scene began in Colerain School back in a Latin class in 1935. Here Paul Young carved his first figure in a bar of soap. Later he studied Restorative Art in the College of Embalming, where he graduated in 1942. In 1946, Mr. Young attended Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in London to study how to make wax figures. This was a rare privilege and he received knowledge that he was able to use to great advantage.
After returning from World War II, he attended the Cincinnati Art Academy for four years where he majored in Sculpturing. He later taught Restorative Art at the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science for 10 years.
There are many people who have contributed to this nativity display. Local residents assist in erecting the barn each year. The original costumes were designed by Mrs. Everett Sortman of Dunlap, Ohio. Mrs. Marian Young made the revisions as time demanded it.
All of the figures in the display were originally sculpted in clay of people in our town. A piece mold is made from the original clay figure. The hot wax is then poured into the plaster of paris mold. The wax is inch thick when finished. A little color is added to the finished figure to give the necessary highlights.
The first year, the display was only of the Virgin Mary and the Christ child. It was after studying many Madonnas that he created the Virgin Mary in 1948, and thus started his own great gift to the community. The Christ child was sculpted in clay on a breadboard; the model was the very timely birth of Lynn Young, a niece of Paul R. Young. After several months of sculpting directly from the infant, he then strengthened the infant to project the radiance of the Christ Child. Infant hair was obtained from a local barbershop where a child had just received his first hair cut. The years following 1948 saw the addition of Joseph, three kings, shepherd, two children, angel and stuffed animals.
It's so seldom that one gets to see oneself in wax, but the Young children, Beverly and Paul, Jr., were their father's models when he added the two children to the display. The rooster and hen were hatched from eggs and raised by the Young children.
The most tedious job is inserting the hair on the heads, eyebrows and beards of the figures; so few hairs can be placed at a time. Artificial eyes are used to give the likeness of human eyes. The wax used for the figures is of a special formula and some tinting is used to give a more natural effect to the skin.
To the people and especially the children, Mr. Young's display is one way to help parents teach their children the original Christmas story of "Peace on Earth-Good Will toward men."